A Magic Opening: Orlando routs Wizards, 112-83

A perfect preseason? Gone. An opening-night blowout? Forgotten.
For the Orlando Magic, LeBron James and the new-look Miami Heat
await.

Dwight Howard had 23 points and 10 rebounds to lift the Magic to
an easy 112-83 victory over the Washington Wizards in the debut
of No. 1 pick John Wall on Thursday night, giving the NBA's
newest arena a grand opening and setting the stage for a
sizzling Sunshine State series showdown.

After months of talk, Superman and all his sidekicks finally
have a chance to make a real statement.

Some couldn't even wait another night.

"Honestly, I'm sick of listening every hour about Miami - Miami
that, how great they are, how big they are, what kind of record
they gonna have," said backup center Marcin Gortat, who had
eight points and seven rebounds. "I get every day interviews
back in Poland, people calling me about Miami, Miami, what you
think about Miami? What you think about Big Three? I'm going to
say the same thing: they are a great team, they have three
superstars, they got a couple good role players on the team.

"They looking good on the paper, but they got to start winning."

One thing is for sure: Orlando has looked real good.

Vince Carter had 18 points and Jameer Nelson scored 16 to help
the Magic cruise to another blowout victory after a perfect
preseason. And it didn't seem to matter what the league's
most-anticipated rookie did.

Wall had 14 points and nine assists - much of it in cleanup duty
- on 6 for 19 shooting in his first meaningful professional
game. He showed flashes of stardom but became just another
spectator on an emotional night in Orlando.

"It was tough," Wall said. "It's really telling me what I need
to work on, but I already know. But as a team aspect, we have a
lot we need to work on."

Orlando's opening night couldn't have gone smoother.

A standing-room only crowd of 18,918 even brought out Tiger
Woods from his Orlando-area home - once a regular at Magic games
- for the first time since his sex scandal last year. Magic
All-Star center Dwight Howard took the microphone to thank fans
before the game, and NBA Commissioner David Stern endured a long
shower of boos before he proclaimed that there's no arena
"better than this facility in the world."

Magic owner Rich DeVos then walked to center court, a cane in
his right hand and a team official balancing him on the left,
and gave a teary-eyed speech seeing the Amway Center finally
realized.

"This is a Magic building. But it's your community center. It's
your place for many adventures to take place," said DeVos, 84,
his voice quivering. "So we know that this place will be a place
of comfort and joy, and that everybody who comes here will be
honored and loved and cherished."

The Magic didn't exactly give the same comfort to the visitors.

They showed the same dominance that led them to an undefeated
preseason, sprinting out to a double-digit lead from the start
behind a flurry of 3-pointers and hard-driving layups. Orlando
went ahead by 14 after the first quarter, 58-34 at half and 35
points in the fourth.

And the highlights were everywhere.

Carter had a one-handed, outstretched layup over Al Thornton for
a three-point play; Howard met Wall in mid-air to swat the
rookie's layup, sent another one into the first row and might
have received the first-opening night "M-V-P" chants in league
history.

As for Miami, Howard said, "We can make a statement."

The Wizards were simply no match.

Wall came out a little too hyped and took 11 of his team's first
24 shots, making only three. But the former Kentucky star also
showed that roderunner-like speed and awesome athleticism.

That wasn't nearly enough.

A Wizards team already enduring growing pains were without
Gilbert Arenas, who was back in the Washington area getting
treatment on a strained tendon in his right ankle. They will
also be without Arenas, the often troubled guard trying to
comeback from a 50-game suspension last season after a felony
gun conviction for bringing the weapon into the locker room,
Saturday night in Atlanta.

The Magic finished the preseason 7-0 and won by an average of
almost 25 points per game. They're the three-time defending
division champions, two years removed from the NBA finals and
still seething about being booted by Boston in the Eastern
Conference finals in May.

Oh, all that attention for that LeBron guy who just moved into
the neighborhood hasn't sat well either. Orlando's first shot at
him is next, and even Magic coach Stan Van Gundy had to poke fun
at all the hype.

"You guys can decide what's a big game and what's not. If they
give me two wins for tomorrow night, then it's a big game," Van
Gundy said, later adding, "I'm not big on the human-interest
stories."

NOTES: After Magic PG Jason Williams played eight minutes in the
fourth quarter before getting two technical fouls for arguing,
an automatic ejection. ... Wall's first points came off a
goaltend by Brandon Bass three minutes into the game.